


An Unhealthy Addiction

by AfterUtopia



Category: Time After Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 22:12:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10291304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AfterUtopia/pseuds/AfterUtopia
Summary: John travels back in time to meet Jane before she finds out he’s the Ripper.Edit: I feel bad for not warning people but I don't want to give away the ending, so just know this-- This isn't a fluff piece, although it may seem so at first... I mean, it's Jack the Ripper, what do you expect?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Characters are property of ABC’s Time After Time.
> 
> Assume that John defeated Jane and HG and now has control of the key and the time machine.

First day of college, and life simply couldn’t be more perfect. Jane was finally living on her own, her classes seemed interesting, she was young and single and free and her life was about to begin! She walked by her mirror one more time, double-checking to make sure nothing was out of place. It was her first day of class, and she wanted to look perfect.

\----------

“7:30’s a little early for art history, don’t you think?” A British voice spoke next to her, and Jane jumped a little. “Apologies,” the man spoke again, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Jane laughed nervously. “No problem. 7:30’s a little early for me to be awake at all, I guess. It’s my fault I didn’t notice you sit down.” The man smiled. He was older-much older. 30, maybe, with dark hair and broad shoulders, and just enough of a beard. A little older than she would have expected for a general ed class, but that was college, she supposed. It wasn’t like high school, where everyone was the same age. “Not too early for art history, though. I’m kind of excited.”

“Excited? Really? I don’t meet many people interested in the subject.” His eyes were fixed on her with a strange intensity, but the rest of his face was casual and friendly. 

Jane was a little unnerved by his steady gaze, and her eyes flickered down and then to the front of the class, looking away from him as she spoke. “Yeah, I don’t know. Two of my favorite subjects combined into one. It should be pretty good.” 

She looked back at him and saw that he was still watching her, that strange smile on his face, mouth a little open and the corners of his lips quirked up ever so slightly.

“I imagine so,” he responded softly as the professor stood in front of the lecture hall, the class quieting down.

\----------

It had been three and a half weeks, and the stranger had sat next to Jane during every art history class - which was three times a week. She had considered coming later so she would arrive after him, but Jane wasn’t one for being late, and if she was being honest with herself, she kind of didn’t want to. He was captivating, and he looked at her in a way not many ever had. Like she was truly something… special.

She knew she ought to be a little creeped out by him. After all, weren’t nineteen year old girls supposed to be scared by flirtatious older men? But to be fair, he wasn’t flirtatious, he was friendly. And he was always completely polite, and he had never pushed her for anything, even once. Hell, they had never even exchanged names! 

It was almost frustrating.

So frustrating, in fact, that here Jane was thinking about it when she was supposed to be studying. Studying now, so she would have time for her date later. With a boy her own age. Whose name she actually knew.

Jane heaved out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling of the library, completely unable to concentrate. “Focus,” she muttered to herself. “Focus.”

As she was bringing her gaze back down to try to keep reading her textbook, she was caught off guard by a familiar, bearded face a few tables away. He was facing her but not looking at her, his eyes glued to his own textbook.

Unconsciously, a smile grew on Jane’s face, her eyes squinting happily.

Almost as if he could feel her gaze, the stranger looked up and saw her, his own smile forming. Jane felt her face heat, and she snapped her eyes back down to her studies. After a moment, she looked back up. He was laughing silently at her.

“Shut up,” Jane mouthed at him, holding back her own laughter. 

He shrugged and looked back at his textbook, face melting back into passivity. Jane pulled her head back slightly, a little taken aback by how quickly she had been dismissed. She shook her head softly and tried to focus again, but now his presence was nagging at her. There was no way she was going to get any studying done now.

Shutting her book, Jane stood. He didn’t look at her. 

She gathered her things. He was still reading intently. 

She pushed her chair in and walked over. 

Now, he looked up, those curious eyes watching her again. Her shoulders felt lighter just at the touch of his gaze.

But he didn’t say anything, and she hadn’t come over here with a plan, and now she was standing there with those eyes looking at her and her brain completely refusing to function.

“Go out with me.”

The words had come unbidden from her mouth, and Jane’s eyes widened in shock. The stranger’s smile grew, his gaze unfaltering. 

“Go out with you,” he repeated, tasting the words. It was almost a question.

“Yes.” Somehow, Jane sounded far more sure than she felt. “Tonight. Now.”

“Now?”

Of course not now! It was a ridiculous idea. He was studying. Suddenly Jane’s veneer of confidence shattered, and her shoulders fell. She looked down, took a step back, and opened her mouth to speak.

“Now is perfect,” the man said before she could take back her words. He began to stand. “I would gladly go on a date with you, Miss…?”

She looked back up at him, a smile growing on her face. “Jane. Jane Walker.”

“It’s nice to get your name at last, Jane Walker. I’m John.”

\----------

It was difficult to breathe. Jane stared up into those steady eyes, and the emotion she saw there - the one that had been there all along, she just hadn’t known what it was before - was reflected in her own. Hunger. All she wanted was to stare into those eyes.

Well, not all she wanted.

Jane pushed closer to John, his back against the wall of her small apartment - of her apartment! - while her hands came up to frame his face. Her thumbs stroked his cheeks, and then her hands went further back, pulling his head down to her while she rose up and forward.

In that moment, she didn’t think about how quickly things were moving, about how a short walk and some fast food was all that had transpired between the time she’d learned his name and the time she’d invited him to come look at a new piece of art she’d found, about what expectations a 30-year-old man might have or whether she was ready to fulfill them. No, all Jane could think about were those eyes, and that perfect little mouth, and being as close to this person as physically possible.

“Jane Walker,” John whispered, voice low. He had one hand around her waist, holding her to him, and the other came up under her arm to rest between her shoulder bones. She had never felt so safe and yet so dangerous at the same time.

“John Stevenson,” Jane whispered back with a grin, their lips so close they could feel the air move when the other spoke. And when they finally touched, she knew what kindling felt like when it finally took a spark and grew into flames.

After that first, slow kiss, there was no holding back. Only a few minutes later, they had moved from the wall to the bed, and she lay on her back with him above her, his lips making their way down her neck. It was only as his hand slid underneath her shirt that Jane paused, pulling back from him and pushing his hand away. 

“Wait,” she said breathlessly. This wasn’t a decision she could make on a whim, no matter how enticing that whim might be.

John pushed himself up slightly. “Jane.” His voice was ragged, and his eyes held a wildness and a need beyond anything she had seen in him before.

“I don’t… know…” But she did know. There was a wildness to Jane that people didn’t always see. She was smart, and she never skipped a class or took a drug or broke a rule, and people assumed that was all there was to her. But there was a part of her that yearned for this feeling. As if she was stepping off a cliff, and she didn’t know if she would fall or fly. As if she was racing away from city lights and into the dark unknown, and there was nothing holding her back from whatever awaited her there. 

She wanted this.

And as she looked up into John’s hungry eyes and felt his heavy breath beating down on her, waiting for her to tell him it was ok to continue, she realized that once again, her eyes held the same need, and her breath the same hunger.

Jane reached her arms up and pulled him back down to her, suddenly sure that whatever was waiting her at the end of this, she wanted it, and she couldn’t control herself anymore, and neither could he, and---

Her eyes widened as pain blossomed in her right side, and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Wha- Why?” Jane could barely muster up the whisper of a question, completely paralyzed by shock and pain.

“Jane, love, sweetheart...” John started, dropping the now-bloody knife and tilting his head down to kiss her again.

Her left arm swung up and she clutched his shoulder, nails digging sharply into his skin.

“Why?” she gasped again, her voice demanding now.

When John answered her, his voice still held the same heat it had when he’d earlier whispered her name. “The first time we met, I told you it didn’t matter who I killed. Whoever was easiest. But killing just anyone doesn’t do it for me anymore.”

She stared at him, not understanding. The first time they’d met had been at the beginning of term, and they hadn’t talked about much at all.

“Do you know how many times we’ve done this? And each time, you’re a little bit younger. A little bit more innocent and trusting. But every time, you’re always the same Jane. Do you know how long it took for me to learn the right way to do this? That I couldn’t do the chasing. That it took time, and it had to be on your terms. That you’d be willing to jump into the arms of a murderer if you decided it was what you wanted. And here we are.”

Jane couldn’t comprehend anything he was saying, and she was starting to lose her hearing too. There was so much pain. So much pain. But she couldn’t look at anything but him.

“You told me once… that I could change. I could go to a new time and start over. Jane, love… I tried. Time after time, I tried. I haven’t changed at all. Except for one thing.”

As Jane’s vision faded, the only thing she could see were those eyes, those steady eyes, fixed on her own. And even with all of the pain, even knowing that she was dying, she could see the devotion in them.

“You’re a special girl, Jane.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so sorry if I didn't do it right somehow. I've roleplayed a lot but never written a fic of my own. If you have any feedback/constructive criticism, please let me know. I would love to know how to improve! And if you liked it, please comment as well, so I know I'm doing something right lol. Thanks! <3
> 
> Oh and feel free to follow me on Twitter @AfterUtopia for Time After Time posts, livetweeting, and fic updates.  
> And hmu if you want to collab/rp c:


End file.
